Chapter 6
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: Hisenna Perryhill
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Hisenna Perryhill
Wait, what's the actual problem? Are you ignoring me just because I breathed for too long?
He's a muggle for sure lololol. But seriously, how the hell did a muggle pull that off?
I got a little annoyed and dropped a comment, and that's when CantDoThisEither chimed in with an explanation.
No, if you'd actually read it, normal muggles take a whole month to get the breathing method down at first. Even archmage material needs a week, and you nailed it on your very first try. In a mana exhaustion state. For a full hour, no less.
Did he really breathe for a full hour?
If that's true, it makes zero sense. Unless he just recovered a bit, took a shit, and came back.
Nah, no way. For real, I did the breathing, opened my eyes, and an hour had passed.
Whoa
This guy's no muggle, I swear
Hawawa, this is a first even for Lulu-chan~
Feels like the first time I've seen this guy sweat
That's how flustered they are
Do these guys have a habit of chatting in code only they understand?
Maybe because they're so smart, they don't bother considering muggles like me in conversations by default.
Okay, so what's the big deal then?
The Mana Breathing Method isn't about going fast. It's usually a focus issue. Especially that basic one you did—it's so inefficient it demands even more concentration. The catch is, you have to master it first before learning anything else.
Most kids can't even hold it for five minutes at the start. Pulling off that inefficient, primitive breathing for a full hour means your focus is absolutely not muggle-level. We could do it if we tried, sure, but even regular mages struggle with it. Maintaining that level of concentration for an hour straight.
Oh, so that's why you were all shocked?
Yeah. And your mana capacity went up by 10? That means after recovering your original amount, you pushed into mana cultivation territory. Mana cultivation here means building up your total capacity. You stimulate your mana circuits through various breathing techniques when full, increasing your overall pool. But no way that's doable on the first try either.
Which is why this guy's no muggle, I keep saying.
Mana cultivation from exhaustion? No way that makes sense.
You tried it in exhaustion this time, but with that focus, next round you could boost total capacity by 10+ :)
Look at Kim Muggle grinning like he survived
Mana cultivation with that primitive breathing? That's insane fr
I've always had pretty good focus since I was a kid lol;;
So that's what it was.
But it didn't feel that hard to concentrate. Circulating natural mana was manageable too.
The gallery vibe seemed to settle down around then.
Well, "settle" might not be the right word. It just ignited in a different direction.
[Title: Kim Muggle, Join the Meditation Sect]
Author: Meditation King
You've got talent for meditation. Join now and I'll teach you everything from basics to advanced for free.
A Meditation Sect exists?
Just made it
Lmao
[Title: What I Did on My First Day at the Academy]
Author: Anon
Even though we're the mage gallery, thinking back to those days hits me with reality.
When I entered the academy, barely scraping by with 2nd-circle magic was my limit.
Mana capacity was decent at around 1000 thanks to talent. Took me a month for first cultivation, of course.
I was pretty proud of that back when I was a muggle.
But what the hell is this Kim Muggle guy?
Day 1 of magic: 5th-circle calculations.
Day 1 of breathing: Success. One hour straight.
Mana cultivation on first breath.
This dude's straight-up no muggle fr.
Even crazier that all this happened in one day
Totally absurd fr
Maybe he's an ultra-ultra-ultra archmage who distorted his own mana capacity to lurk in the gallery?
Sounds plausible;; He's an archmage who hacks the gallery system
Too much of a retard for that tho
Hmm;
My exploits seemed like a total mystery to these archmages.
Even though to me, it didn't feel particularly tough.
Gurgle—
With the mana exhaustion lifted, my stomach started rumbling.
Come to think of it, I haven't eaten anything since arriving.
They definitely said during orientation that the cafeteria was available.
But I had no money. I'd been broke since possessing this world.
Ian Isaac here was a commoner, so his pockets were light.
"Once the semester properly starts, you get scholarships and living stipends based on grades..."
Merhen Magic Academy paid out this world's currency, "gel," based on performance rankings.
But that was after the semester began. Until then, you were on your own dime.
[Title: But I'm Broke]
Author: Kim Muggle
More importantly, I'm starving right now. Academy has a cafeteria and convenience store that seem open, but no money.
Dropped into this world outta nowhere, wtf. Anyone wanna spot me some cash?
You think we know which dimension that is to send money?
Currency is gel, anyone know about it?
Thousands of dimensions use gel as currency
Fuckin hell;
Posting on the gallery got me nothing useful.
What was I expecting from people I could never even meet?
Go beg outside or something. Semester starts soon and you'll get paid anyway, right?
Yeah, but begging's a bit...
To eat and live, you gotta beg if you have to. I've eaten scorpions in the desert before.
This guy's got insane grit
Don't think mage gallery average is like this guy. He's the only one who'd do that. Mages don't stoop to undignified crap like that.
Hmm. Fair point—archmages begging?
They look like they'd rake in cash easy.
"Begging, huh..."
But I wasn't an archmage. I was Kim Muggle.
Begging felt off, but borrowing a bit from dorm mates under the guise of classmates? That might fly.
Meal costs probably weren't much. I could pay it back later.
Above all, I was too damn hungry to hold out.
I left the dorm room.
The Archmage Duke families weren't bound to any nation as military vassals.
The title of Archmage Duke was reserved for the heads of the eight greatest mage families among the continent's countless wizards—those who had reached the archmage realm.
Coming from one of the continent's mere eight Archmage Duke families carried clear implications.
In the mage world, where time and effort reigned supreme, it meant possessing an asymmetrical advantage from birth.
Born and raised amidst magic, they started with an edge over other mages.
And Hisenna Perryhill was direct lineage of the Perryhill Archmage Duke family, one of those elite eight.
Before even entering Merhen Magic Academy, Hisenna could cast 3rd-circle magic.
Her mana capacity far outstripped her peers, thanks to early breathing training.
So naturally, she was a target during the entrance exam.
Everyone disliked being grouped with her.
She was an object of fear, and she took it as given.
That awe inflated her pride, convincing her she couldn't be compared to other examinees on magical merit.
That held until the exam ended.
But from then until now, Hisenna's pride had been thoroughly shattered.
"What the hell is that guy...!"
The man who'd beaten her in the exam with a single spell. Examinee number 888, Ian Isaac.
At first, she'd dismissed him as a pathetic muggle. She couldn't fathom why he'd even take the academy exam.
He'd even rolled on the ground to dodge in a sacred magic duel instead of using defense magic—unworthy of recognition as a mage.
Yet Ian had won with 5th-circle magic, no less.
Even Hisenna's limit was 3rd-circle.
The proctors watching, Hisenna herself, and the passersby on the screens—all were stunned.
Losing to 5th-circle got her reactions like, "Even Perryhill couldn't handle that..." which was a relief. At least she wasn't mocked.
But it still pissed her off. She'd been upstaged when she was supposed to shine.
Fuming, Hisenna stayed in the dorms.
She couldn't return home after such humiliation.
She'd train at the academy until semester start. And uncover that man's secrets.
"He seemed to enter the dorms too..."
She'd seen Ian head in.
It was dinnertime now, so he'd probably be eating.
Hisenna scoured the open cafeterias but couldn't find him.
The academy was too vast; her legs ached from wandering.
"Nyaa~"
"Oh my."
Wandering between buildings, Hisenna spotted a stray cat.
Lingering here like this. Hadn't eaten yet?
A shy cat approaching humans first? Must be starving.
"Oh dear, are you hungry? Wait here a sec?"
Hisenna petted the cat, then dashed to the convenience store.
She couldn't ignore a hungry little one.
"Hehe. Eat up, yummy."
She returned and lavished food on the cat.
After watching it eat for a bit, she resumed her search.
She'd take this route often to care for the kitty.
But after walking a ways, a cry echoed from the cat's direction.
The cat yowled like it was fighting something.
"Fighting over food with another stray? They could just share."
With Archmage Duke wealth, Hisenna could feed a dozen strays.
Hoping they'd all eat peacefully, she turned back.
But Hisenna froze in shock upon arriving.
It wasn't another cat the stray was fighting.
"Kyaaah!"
"Kieek! Hey, share a bit, there's so much!"
It was a person.
A guy sprawled cat-like, devouring the food she'd given.
"Ian Isaac?"
It was the very Ian she'd been hunting for.
"Uh."
Their gazes crossed awkwardly in the air.